Hello from a total novice

[Stella]

I have been lurking and reading here for a couple of weeks and thought I should introduce myself. I am a total novice when it comes to sailing. I am actually still saving to take lessons, but my husband and I have dreams of cruising someday. I'm kind of obsessed with the idea.

I am 28 and he is 24 and we have a 3 year old and a 2 year old, so it will be a while. On the plus side, that gives us a lot of time to plan and save. We live on one income, and that will be going up by about 30% over the next two years as he finishes his apprenticeship. Once the girls are in school and I am back to work we should be able to save all of my income and some of his. My husband works a seasonal job in construction, so as soon as the girls are grown we would have 6 months a year free to cruise. When my husband is 52 he will be eligible for his pension and we could retire and go full time.

OK, I am probably putting the cart before the horse with all of these dreams, but indulge me. There are so few people who understand our dream. I am so glad to have found this forum. There is so much I can learn from all of you!

[Ex-Calif]

Stella - Welcome aboard and compliments on your enthusiasm. Where are you all located? Near the water I hope!

Not to be preachy but as you are young I feel compelled to give a little advice.

A young family will make lot's of demands on you financially. It's easy to have a dream and then set your financial priorities in conflict with the dream. It always seems that a new car, a new roof, horse riding lessons or something will pop up. You turn around one day and say, "What happened to sailing?"

Boating is an awesome family endeavor. My brother has a Force 5 dinghy, including trailer "donated" to him by a friend. Even this little boat on the lake creates tons of family memories. Sitting on the shore having a picnic and taking turns to spin around the lake is a super cheap and enjoyable way to spend weekends.

So my advice, if you guys are serious, would be to keep your eye out for something that sails, involve the girls and "live the life."

You will be building valuable sailing experience and having a wonderful time.

[Stella]

Thanks for the welcome! I think your idea is a great one! I live within walking distance to a good sized lake, where sailing is a big passtime for many of the locals.

[Pblais]

I live within walking distance to a good sized lake, where sailing is a big passtime for many of the locals.

Sounds like a great idea. You can sail locally on a budget with a small boat. It's good family fun too. You need to do something while you start saving.

[FirstForty]

I think these posts are good ones for you. When I was in my 20s I had a 22 and a 27' sailboat on Lake Lanier near Atlanta. I had a ball and it laid the groundwork for my later trips. Now I cruise my Nordhavn 40 and may be looking for other adventures. Think of boating as a lifelong adventure. You can start small and go from there.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Stella,
Welcome aboard!! You'll find lots of good advice here and hope you'll join in and ask questions. I recommend the book "Start Sailing Right." It is a good way to learn good sailing habits before you learn bad habits and have to break them.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[TX Sailor]

Stella Ex-Calif hit the nail right on the head. Sailing a small boat is one of the least expensive hobbies you can have, but is one of the funnest activities there is young or old. Not much else you can do is so much fun for so little Not only that a little boat will teach you things that a bigger boat won't. It will also help keep the dream alive while you are raising the kids and working towards retirement.

But don't be surprised if the little boat becomes a family member and is still in use even after you get a bigger boat. Ours is and no one enjoys sailing it as much as my wife. In fact it has became "her" boat.

There are lots of little boats that will work. We have a 1967 Starcraft Skylark, but a Sunfish, Dolphin Sr. and lots of others are inexpensive easy to rig, easy to sail and easy to trailer.

This isn't a "little boat" message board but I bet most people on here either have sailed them or still do and can give you plenty of help.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Stella,
Tx Sailor and Ex-Calif are right about little boats. I'd never give up my little Herreshoff 12 footer and still like to sail Sunfish after sailing for 35 years and owning big boats too.
JohnL

[Ex-Calif]

My son Josh recently finished his optimist course. last weekend I checked out a Pico and he sailed an optimist and we played follow the leader.

Someday (soon) he's gonna be waxing me around the sausages ;-)

[Stella]

We looked at small sailboats this weekend and there are a ton of inexpensive used ones for sale around here.

Thanks for the welcome! I am so happy to have found this place!

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Stella,
If you'd like opinions on small boats then just mention a certain one and their will be someone here that tell you about how well they sail. If you have a choice between a couple at a similar price you might want to ask the question which is best? Car top boats always get used more if they come with trailers so I'd recommend buying a boat that already had a small serviceable trailer.
Kind Regards,
JohnL